Storytelling: How the Story of the Trumpet Shapes the Way We Share Jesus (1 Pet. 2:11-12) Chris Altrock – August 28, 2011

Today is the fourth Sunday in a series on sharing Jesus with others.  As we begin this morning, I’d like you to write on the card we’ve provided the name of a person you know who is not yet a follower of Jesus.  At some point during this message, I want you to write the name of one person who is not yet a follower of Jesus.

 

Mark Buchanan is a wonderful author who has written an inspiring book about heaven.  It’s called Things Unseen.[1] Buchanan ends the book with a chapter entitled “Living for the Moment.”[2] He writes about that moment when followers of Jesus will finally see Jesus face to face.  And he tells the story of a woman named Marlene who realized that she had lived her whole life for that one heavenly moment.  Every day was lived so that one moment with Jesus would be possible.

 

Marlene and her husband Al were married for forty five joyous years.  They had children, grandchildren, and a wide circle of caring friends.  When Marlene was first diagnosed with cancer, everyone expected her to beat it.  She was strong and vibrant—the kind of woman who could roll right over a disease like cancer.  In addition, she was the kind of woman who ought to be allowed to survive cancer.  Marlene, in Buchanan’s words, “was hospitable, an entertainer of angels, a friend to the lonely, the wounded, the perplexed.”  She had blessed dozens of people throughout her life.  She and her husband Al planted the church where Buchanan now preached.  If anyone should live through cancer, Marlene should have.  But the cancer hit with a ferocity that no one expected.  And soon, it became clear to everyone, including Marlene, that this cancer was terminal.  She was moved to Room 318 in the small hospital—the room reserved for those in their final days.

 

Buchanan writes, “Somewhere in those last days, Marlene’s friend Eugene…leaned close to her.  He took her papery, willowy hand—her cold, cold hand—in his, and held it tight…Marlene could barely turn her head, but she looked toward him.  And then she spoke in a voice surprising in its clarity and strength.  ‘It’s all right, Gene.  You can let go.  Don’t you understand?  I’ve lived my entire life for this moment.’” Her husband Al read to her from Psalm 121.  “‘Marlene,’ he said, ‘thank you for forty-five years of marriage.’” Buchanan writes, “He paused only a moment, and then spoke the words she longed to hear: ‘Run into the arms of Jesus.’  Joy flooded her.  In that single instant, youth came back to her: a brightness, a freshness, a wonder-struck expectancy that swept away her haggardness and pallor.  Her body grew light.  She sat up straight, jaunty, like a child waking after a good sound sleep. I’ve lived my entire life for this moment.  And she was gone.  Heaven-bent.”

 

Buchanan’s story of Marlene is a comforting story.  We who are followers of Jesus are living our entire lives for that moment—that moment when we will be able to run into the arms of Jesus; that moment when we will finally be face to face with the one who is the center of our lives.  That one moment will make all the effort, all the cost of following Jesus worth it.  We Christians live our entire lives for that moment—when we are finally face to face with Jesus.

 

Peter writes about that moment.  Peter was one of three of Jesus’ closest friends.  His preaching was turned into a Gospel by an author named Mark.  He is the author of two letters in the New Testament.  Peter wrote 1 Peter from Rome to Christians undergoing persecution in Asia Minor.  This was not an organized empire-wide persecution.  It was instead the kind of persecution that came because Christians refused to participate in local festivals or public events because they promoted idolatry or immorality.  It was the kind of persecution that comes when you live in a culture whose values are the opposite of Christian values.  The word or concept of “suffering” occurs 11 times in 1 Peter.  Peter is writing to Christians who are having a very difficult time.

 

For example, Peter writes about how the culture has made these Christians feel like “exiles” (1:1).  They are suffering “various trials” (1:6).  Peter describes them as being rejected in the same way Jesus was rejected (2:4).  He remembers how some in that culture “speak against” the Christians (2:12).  Peters writes to Christians who are doing the right thing but are nonetheless mistreated (2:20).  He writes of some who “revile” the good behavior of the Christians (3:16).  He tells how many non Christians are “surprised” when the Christians don’t participate in certain activities (4:4).  And finally Peter calls their experience a “fiery trial” (4:12).  Evidently, it’s a tough time to follow Jesus.

 

It is not surprising then that 1 Peter is filled with references to that moment—that moment when these hurting followers of Jesus will finally be face to face with Jesus.  Peter writes about that moment when all their suffering will end and they’ll be in the arms of Jesus.  For example, he writes about their “salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1:5).  He talks of how they will receive “praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1:8).  He tells the Christians they are living in the “last times” (1:21) and that “The end of all things is at hand” (4:7).  Peter encourages the leaders of the church to anticipate that day “when the chief Shepherd appears” and they “will receive the unfading crown of glory” (5:4).  Finally, he reminds them all that “after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you” (5:10).  In other words, Peter is telling them, “You’re living your entire life for that moment—when you are finally face to face with Jesus.” The pain of this life will be absent and the comfort of Jesus will be present.  That moment will make all their suffering worth it.

 

But there is another moment.  The Bible says a great deal about that moment which Buchanan and Peter write about.  The Bible speaks repeatedly about it.  But the Bible also speaks of another moment.  The Bible urges us to also live our entire lives for another moment.  And Peter writes about this as well: 11Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. (1 Pet. 2:11-12 ESV)

 

Let’s walk step by step through this text.  First, Peter reminds us who we are: “sojourners and exiles.”  These words describe people who are geographically displaced.  They refer to people living in a country not their own.  We could use the words “illegal alien” or “immigrant” or “refugee” to get at the spirit of these words.  Peter’s saying, “Remember who you are.  This culture is not your culture.  Its values are not your values.  You don’t belong in this culture.”

 

This does not mean, however, that we no longer care about the culture and the people in it.  I’m afraid we followers of Jesus too often think “This world is not my home I’m just a passin’ through” and so we don’t care at all about the culture or the people in it.  That’s not what Peter is advocating.  This identity of “sojourners and exiles” does not lead us to think less of our culture and the people in it.  As we’ll see in a moment, it leads us to think more about them.

 

Second, Peter reminds us how we live: “abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable…”The word “conduct” is a key word.  It occurs several times in 1 Peter.  The word refers to day-to-day living.  Having established our identity, Peter now wants to talk about how that identity impacts our day-to-day living.  The word is his way of saying, “Live your entire life in this way.”

 

Then he talks about the negative impact of our identity on our conduct.  Because of our identity we are to “abstain from the passions of the flesh.”  The word “abstain” means to stay away from.  We are to stay as far away as we can from the passions of our flesh.  In the sixties and seventies “passions of the flesh” might have been called the “if it feels good do it” way of living.  Today we might call it the “nothing’s wrong with it as long as it doesn’t hurt others” or “no one has the right to tell me what I do in private” way of living.  It’s giving in to your most base desires.  Peter writes in 1 Pet. 4:3-4 that the people in our culture often “live…for human passions.”  But because we are sojourners and exiles we don’t live that way.

 

Then Peter talks about the positive impact our identity has on our day-to-day conduct: we live in a way that is “honorable.”  Peter specifically mentions living honorably “among the Gentiles.”  Literally, the word “Gentiles” refers to anyone who is not a Jew.  But Peter’s using the word symbolically.  Peter has already called us “exiles,” referring back to the time when the Jewish people were exiled from their land and forced to live a in a foreign land.  Christians, Peter believes, are just like those Jews.  We’ve been “exiled” into a culture that is not our own.  And the non Christians around them he calls “Gentiles.”  Thus Peter wants to talk now about our day-to-day conduct around non Christians.  Just because we are sojourners and exiles doesn’t mean we don’t care about the non Christian world and non Christian people.  It means just the opposite.  Peter makes it clear that our identity must lead us to be very concerned about the way we live around non Christians.

 

Specifically, he urges us to live in a way that is honorable.  The word “honorable” can mean simply “good.”  It also means “beautiful” or “attractive.”^[3] Peter is saying, “I want you to pay special attention to non Christians.  Be sure you live a beautiful and attractive life around them.”

 

I recently got to see and listen to a woman named Mama Maggie Gobran.  Gobran is a Coptic Christian.  She was born into wealth in Egypt but left the comfort of wealth to begin a ministry among the poor who live in the garbage slums of Cairo.  Known as “Cairo’s Mother Teresa,” Gobran became a successful professional, first on the management team of a marketing firm and later as a university professor of computer science.  But when she learned of the plight of children living among the garbage pits of Cairo, she turned her back on her career and devoted herself to serving these children.  For two decades she has given herself to Cairo’s poorest of the poor.  Recently I got to hear Gobran tell her story.  And as she spoke, everyone in the room hushed.  There was such a simple beauty to her life.  She almost seemed to blush when she spoke of Jesus, as if she were enamored with him.  She wept with joy and gratitude that Jesus had counted her worthy to serve in garbage pits.  And as she finished speaking she knelt and kissed the platform where she stood, asking that God might bless all of us who gathered to hear her.  Gobran lives the kind of life which Peter captures in his word “honorable” or “beautiful.”  Peter is saying,  “Make sure that the day-to-day life you live around non Christians is that kind of beautiful life.”

 

Peter reminds us who we are.  He tells us how we live.  Finally, Peter writes of why we live this way: “so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.” Peter is channeling Jesus here.  One statement of Jesus’ is driving this verse.  Matthew records that statement in the Sermon on the Mount: “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 5:16).  At the most basic level, Peter is saying that a beautiful life can have a powerful impact on the non Christians who see it.

 

According to the Open Doors Ministry, in the 1990’s Chinese government officials became frustrated with crime, drug addiction, and sickness in the Yunnan province.  They turned for help to the only model citizens in the area: Christians.[4] One official spoke anonymously, “We had to admit that the Lahu people were a dead loss because of their addiction to opium…Their addiction made them weak and sick. Then they would go to one of their ‘priests,’ who required animal sacrifices of such extravagance that the people became poor. And because they were so poor, they stole from each other, and law and order deteriorated. It was a vicious cycle that no amount of government propaganda could break.  We noticed, however, that in some villages in the country, the Lahu were prosperous and peace loving. There was no drug problem, or any stealing or social order problems. Households had a plentiful supply of pigs, oxen, and chickens. So we commissioned a survey to find out why these villages were different. To our astonishment and embarrassment, we discovered the key factor was that these villages had a majority of Christians.”  Officials then launched a daring experiment—they asked these Christians to go into a crime-ridden village and share their faith.  Christians moved in and started living and teaching in one of the villages.  A year later, that village was completely transformed.  A radical drop in addiction.  Much less sickness.  Greater prosperity.  A beautiful life can have a powerful impact on non Christians who see it.

 

That’s what Peter is saying.  If you live your entire life as a beautiful life in front of non Christians, it can have a powerful impact.  In fact, Peter says, it can lead non Christians to become Christians.  Here is where we finally get back to that moment.  Only it’s not necessarily the moment we might have envisioned.  Peter looks into the future and pictures a day which he calls the “day of visitation.”  This is a reference to the day Jesus returns.  The return of Jesus is chapter 6 in our story of Jesus.  The Bible says elsewhere that Jesus will return with a loud trumpet call to reign finally and fully.  And on that day, here’s what Peter sees: all the non Christians who have been critical and hateful and hurtful have become Christians because so many Christians have lived such beautiful lives that the non Christians have decided to follow Jesus, and when Jesus arrives, they glorify him.  That’s a fancy way of saying they worship him.  I love how Eugene Peterson translates this in The Message: Then they’ll be won over to God’s side and be there to join in the celebration when he arrives (1 Pet. 2:12 The Message).  Peter looks into the future to that moment when there’s a loud trumpet call and Jesus returns.  And at that moment there will be raucous celebration.  It’ll be the biggest worship service ever held.  And among the most enthusiastic worshipers, those singing the loudest, those raising their hands the highest, those jumping to get a glimpse of the returning Jesus, are these non Christians who are now Christians because of the beautiful lives lived by the Christians around them.

 

In essence, here’s what Peter is saying: Live your entire life for that moment—when others are face to face with Jesus. Peter does not just want us to think about that moment when we are face to face with Jesus.  He wants us to think about that moment when the non Christians around us will be face to face with Jesus.  Peter is saying, “Live a beautiful life every day, because it can persuade those far from God to draw near to God with the result that they will be jubilant worshippers on the day Jesus returns.  Don’t live your entire life just thinking about how you’ll finally get to see Jesus face to face.  Live your entire life thinking also about how others could be overjoyed at seeing Jesus face to face because you’ve been intentional and your way of life has won many over to Christ.”

 

When we think of that moment when Jesus returns, we should not just think about ourselves.  We should think of the person whose name we’ve written on that card.  And we should live every day from now until that return in such a way that that person will become a follower of Jesus and thus will truly celebrate when Jesus returns.  We should not merely think of how to live our lives so we are prepared for that moment.  We should think of how to live our lives so that others are prepared for that moment.

 

And that moment puts an urgency into our sharing of Jesus.  Whether we are sharing Jesus with our lips or our lives, the story of the trumpet creates a sense of urgency.  As Peter sees things, the story of the trumpet means that there’s a great party coming.  It’s like the one Jesus envisioned in Lk. 15 when he imagined the kind of party a father would throw when his long lost son finally comes home.  They kill the fattened calf and invite all their friends and neighbors to come and rejoice.  There’s never been a party like it in the village before.  Peter can see a similar party taking place when Jesus returns.  There’s never been a party like it in the world before.  But the point is that Jesus will return.  And there’s a limited time to extend the invitations to that party.  There’s a limited time to live our lives so that others are prepared for that moment.  There’s a limited time to live a beautiful life that leads others to have joy on that day.  And because time is short, we should get busy living for others.  Not living for ourselves and our face to face reunion with Jesus.  But living for others and their face to face reunion with Jesus.  You never know whether the next year, month, week or day may be the last one before the return of Jesus.  So let’s start living beautiful lives for the sake of others.  Let’s live our entire life from this moment forward for that moment.

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[1] Mark Buchanan, Things Unseen (Multnomah, 2002).

[2] Ibid., 231-236.

^[3] Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. (1995). Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (402). Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans.

[4] The Pastors Connection (Open Doors USA e-mail, August 2002); corroborated by Kelly Callaghan, prayer and courier coordinator, Open Doors USA.